Undated courtesy photo of Steven Alexander Cross, 60, of Lakeville
DOB 7-13-1951. Authorities are looking for Steven Alexander Cross, 60, of Lakeville, charged with a gross misdemeanor of child neglect after police say he abandoned his son in August 2011, leaving a note behind saying their house was in foreclosure. Photo courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office

California authorities on Monday arrested a Lakeville father wanted for abandoning his 11-year-old son when their home was lost in a foreclosure.

Steven Alexander Cross, 60, was taken into custody after a deputy spotted his Ford Windstar van in a commercial area of the oceanside city of Cambria, according to the San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s office.

Investigators had heard last week that Cross possibly was working in the area. He was arrested without incident, said Cmdr. Jason Nefores, of the sheriff’s office.

Cross was considered a suicide risk because of the notes he had left with his son when he abandoned the boy July 18 in Minnesota.

In one of the notes, Cross told his son he couldn’t find work and that they were being evicted, a criminal complaint said. It instructed the boy to go to a neighbor’s house. Another note asked the neighbor to watch after the 11-year-old.

“If this paper is wet, it’s because I am crying so bad,” Cross wrote to his son. “There are many, many great years ahead for you. Not so for me.”

Cross was charged this month in Dakota County with gross misdemeanor child neglect. Emails sent by Cross led investigators to California.

“I can’t remember a time where a parent has abandoned a child before in my career – under these circumstances,” Lakeville Police Chief Tom Vonhof said.

Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows said Cross would be extradited to Minnesota to face the pending charge.

In the first year of the child’s life, police were called repeatedly to Cross’ home during custody disputes between Cross and the boy’s mother, Katik Kristina Porter, according to police reports. On one occasion, Cross, 60, and Porter, 38, both were arrested.

The police reports reviewed Monday show Cross called officers for everything from Porter’s picking up their son late to her not having a car seat. He told investigators he wanted to document every dispute as he and Porter fought over custody.

Compared with single mother, single dads have few places to turn to for counseling and support, said Jerome Schoenecker, director of the Resource Center for Fathers and Families, which serves the Twin Cities.

“It’s very difficult to be heard in this culture as a father,” Schoenecker said. “I guess this culture assumes that fathers can support themselves.”

Cross was awarded custody of his son in 2001, according to the Dakota County criminal complaint. Porter had visitation rights for the first two years of his life.

Attempts to reach Porter were unsuccessful Monday.

Cross and Porter never married and problems in the relationship emerged as early as 2001 when their son was an infant, Lakeville police reports suggest.

According to one report, the couple argued while exchanging custody Aug. 10, 2001. Cross told police Porter assaulted him by grabbing his arm and that a man with her threatened to fight him.

Cross asked to pursue a fifth-degree assault charge, the report said.

Porter told police she was running late to pick up her son, according to the report. When she arrived, Cross began yelling at her friend. Cross then pushed her, causing her to stumble.

Officers arrested Porter and Cross. Porter was convicted of disorderly conduct, court records show. Cross also was charged, but as part of a stayed sentence, the conviction later was dismissed.

A court order then required Porter and Cross to have police escorts when exchanging custody, reports said. However, they continued to argue with “a high level of hostility,” police said.

Porter called police on Cross, too. On July 17, 2001, Porter told officers Cross refused to let her take the boy after she was a half-hour late, a police report said.

“Cross at times was extremely irrational,” said a report from Jan. 5, 2002, which noted he was “verbally abusive” to an officer.

Lakeville police were called to Cross’ house at least 10 times from Aug. 10, 2001, to June 1, 2002. The court suspended Porter’s visitation rights in 2002.

Cross told his son his mother had died.

In his goodbye note, though, Cross wrote: “Some good news is your mother is still alive. Though I do not think it is for the best,” said the criminal complaint.

After Cross left July 18, friends said his son stayed with the neighbor for about a month. The boy has been placed in the custody of Dakota County Child Protection, said County Attorney James Backstrom. He is living with a foster family but soon will be placed permanently with a relative.

Cross, an architect, used to work at Vanney Associates, an architecture firm in St. Paul, and lists himself on a social media site as employed at Steve A. Cross Architects.

Court records show Cross owed nearly $35,000 to financial companies since 2007. A bank purchased Cross’ home, sold at a sheriff’s auction, for $336,925 in January, property records show.

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